The Catch of a Lifetime

A gorgeously illustrated collection of first-person stories on the sublime joy of flyfishing

For every flyfisher, there is a moment, etched into deepest memory, when the stars aligned around an encounter with a great fish. Though years or decades may pass, anglers can still recall those fleeting minutes: the direction of the wind, the length of the cast, the course of the fly, the instant of 
the take, the leaps and surges of the fish. In The Catch of a Lifetime, prize-winning author Peter Kaminsky has collected thrilling, beautiful, and evocative stories on the joys of flyfishing and the one flyfishing memory that stands out above all others. In Kaminsky’s case, it wasn’t the 200-pound tuna he fought—and lost—against the shore in Montauk. It was a plump brown trout, dappled with fire-engine-red spots in a yellow halo, barely fourteen inches and caught early  one summer morning as mist rose off a Catskills creek.

The contributors are artists, authors, guides, and poets who have a singular passion for flyfishing, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Nick Lyons, Rachel Finn, Tom Colicchio, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, Hilary Hutcheson, and John McPhee. Their encounters bring to life vivid recollections of a forty-pound salmon taking to the air, the furious jolt of a barracuda, the acrobatic somersaults of an enormous Florida tarpon, the serenity of a smallmouth caught at last light in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters. The works of flyfishing’s greatest artists and photographers weave their way through more than seventy unforgettable essays.

• “Peter Kaminsky is a master angler, storyteller, and companion on the water. He combines these skills to take you on a memorable pursuit of flyfishing and adventure. He’ll even buy beers if the day goes well.”
   
  Tom Brokaw
• “It’s a miracle of a book: eclectic and full of suspense, wit, and fun. There’s nothing like it.”
  Nick Lyons
• “A book for the ages.”
  Kirk Deeter, Trout Unlimited
• "Eager to have a new favorite book that fulfills your fishing fantasies? Legendary angler, journalist, and author Peter Kaminsky has just what you need with his new book."
  Flylords
• "Delightful, inspirational, insightful, and educational."
  John Rowen, Booklist (starred review)
• "Peter Kaminsky writes passionately about the world of angling, but he now flexes his curating muscles in this beautiful fly-fishing anthology."
  Anglers Journal